The melding of hardcore and rock-n-roll seems to be quite the rave as of late. So when you have a sudden influx of bands taking aim at a new look of an established genre, you are going to get the full spectrum. That is to say you'll get everything from fantastic to downright horrible. With their self-titled release, Dead Hearts find themselves just above the middle crowd. Dead Hearts begins in typical hardcore fashion with an intro/sing-along track before busting into "Breakdown." Here the band's formula is displayed upfront, combining fast paced hardcore, likely inspired from the mid-90's youth-crew revival, and blazing rock-n-roll riffing. Hell, they even throw in a guitar solo. This is a very crucial jam, not too shabby so far. The next couple of tracks follow in typical fashion, but I can't say there is anything spectacular about them. "Dear Jane Letter," one of the tracks from the band's demo shows why State of Mind picked the band up. The track gives Dead Hearts a moment outside of the one dimensional hardcore world. The song makes use of melodic guitars throughout, but they are especially present in the beginning sequence; reminded me a bit of Lifetime. The … Read more
Cave In has been on hiatus for a couple months now and Stephen Brodsky has decided to not sit still. … Read more
Have you seen the Frances The Mute cover art yet? Cast your eyes to the right, it's on display there. … Read more
Even though Red Sparowes is a new project, they didn't have much difficulty making a name for themselves. Neurosis visual-effects … Read more
This has been one of the hardest reviews I have ever written simply because I do not like this album … Read more
Remember when "pop-punk" wasn't a dirty word or condescending insult to a band's integrity? Remember when it meant simple, memorable … Read more
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Lack of sleep, Influenza A virus and a spike through your chest, among other things, cause people to get sick. When you get sick usually taking medicine is the cure. Lately I've been getting sick of "amazing-core". It's essentially hardcore pop: vague lyrics that every hardcore kid and hot topic consumers can connect to paved atop over-the-top polished "HXC jamz." The cure is Final Fight's Under Attack; twelve songs of near perfect consumption that still keep foot in dangerous territory. Lyrically hardcore bands take three different routes: Terror, With Honor or American Nightmare. The singer either wants to beat "you" up, live a life of heart or cry about a broken heart. Not that these aren't valid topics, but when it's done time after time I begin to question the … Read more
Henry Rollins had this to say about being in a band in his book Do I Come Here Often: Black Coffee Blues Pt. 2: "I see now that it's a lot more than just the music that got them [Janes Addiction] where they are. There's a lot of planning and wise moves made. Timing is a key element... I just … Read more
Essentially, there are two types of hardcore bands. The first gravitates towards kids who are really into hardcore. The second is enjoyed by casual hardcore fans. Then there are the bands that fit in both categories (Terror, American Nightmare, etc.) Although this is This Is Hell's first release, a demo/EP, all the ingredients are present for This Is Hell to … Read more
A lot of albums are released during the course of a year. Hell, even if you rule out all the albums that you know you have no interest in at all, there will still be some that you just don't get around to fully checking out until much after the fact. So while everyone else is focusing on the next … Read more
So you're in a rock band and you already look different than other bands with your crazy hair and fingernail polish, but you want to sound different. So you add a keyboard to your band. Fucktacular, bro! In addition to adding a new instrument to a band, another option that The Pax Cecilia takes with Nouveau is to synthesize previously … Read more
Memories of listening to Lifetime and hanging out with the crew every day of the week, skating, partying, or what have you, will always be there for me. It was undoubtedly some of the best times of my life. So when I heard about The Loved Ones and their comparisons to Lifetime, I was very intrigued. I hadn't had such … Read more
The morning is generally associated with hope and rebirth. Leave it up to sad-eyed pessimist Conor Oberst to reverse this symbol in I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning . Now the morning reveals all the clandestine secrets that lurk in the dark, all the secrets forgotten from a drunken night of destruction bask and glimmer in the sunlight. It brings consequences … Read more
I have too much love for James Murphy, the man behind LCD Soundsystem. This guy sits atop a throne of excellence, which sits atop a black mountain of cracked vinyl, which sits atop the sweaty corpses of the over-danced. You'd think that being named one of the coolest people on the planet would render a man intolerably arrogant - but … Read more
Vocalist Conrad Keely poses a question on the album's title track; "What's the future of Rock-n-Roll?" A rhetorical question? Perhaps, but he chooses to answers anyway, even if it is sarcastically: "Does it matter?" To answer his question, yes, it does. For if the future is filled with annoying indie/pop acts like Franz Ferdinand and the revival of washed up … Read more
Music as true art begs to be delved deeper into. Controversially classic albums such as Daydream Nation, Zen Arcade, and Kid A warrant very little before much time and myriad repeat listens. On first hearing, albums such as the aforementioned often appear completely impenetrable, inaccessible, and, in some cases, entirely unlistenable; nothing exists to grab the listener instantaneously by the … Read more
The city of Detroit has a bad reputation on the streets of, well, the entire United States. It's known as a dirty, crime-ridden city full of despair and wretched individuals. While I am sure there is some truth to this, it is likely nothing more than a generalization blown way out of proportion. Nevertheless, the city has spawned some fairly … Read more
Hating to love something is a complicated and frustrating emotion. When it comes to music, I prefer one of the following: to love an album unconditionally and make it a part of my life, despise it with a scorching passion, or just entirely forget about it altogether. Conflicting emotions and any sort of middle ground or grey area regarding an … Read more
Sharks are awesome. They have big teeth, they've been around since the dinosaurs, and they'll eat anything. Sharks are awesome. We Versus The Shark are pretty cool, too. Their music is razor-sharp and jagged, not unlike shark teeth. But they haven't been around quite as long, it seems. Ruin Everything! is their debut effort. (Pfft. Mick Jagger rocked out with … Read more
By now everyone is familiar with "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," that fun movie trivia game that is ever-so-often used as a conversation stimulator. Well I plan to create a variation of the game for the music industry, "Six Degrees of Mike Patton." Why? Simple, Patton has ties with notable artists in nearly every genre of music: metal, hip hop, … Read more
The city of Atlanta is known for its output of southern fried rap and hip hop MC's like Outkast, Ludacris, and Jermaine Dupri. But there is more to the city than just inane rhymes and crunk beats. Not unlike hip hop in the 80's, Instilled are ready to break out of the shadow of modern music and take the world … Read more
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